Sam's Fox ThunderCats - Main


 

Welcome to Sam's Fox ThunderCats


If this is not your first time to my site, you will have noticed that there have been some changes to the layout. This is because I had the misfortune of using a slower computer with a dialup internet connection a while back, and I noticed that the old site, with its snazzy graphics, loaded very slowly. I had spoiled myself with my cable modem and didn't think about all those dialup users out there. Well, NO MORE! The new look was implemented to do two things: Ease navigation, and speed the whole damned thing up. There is one caveat to doing things this way: Your screen resolution should be set to at least 1024 X 768. 800 X 600 at the bare minimum. 640 X 480 just doesn't cut the mustard anymore.

So what is Sam's Fox ThunderCats, Anyway?

It's simple. Sam's Fox ThunderCats is a website dedicated to the 1983-1988 Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar, with just a sprinkling of Lincoln Mark VII tossed in for kicks. Unlike some other sites, this is not a waste of web space dedicated to my own car. In fact, the only place you'll find any information about my cars is in the Gallery, along with the many photos of visitor's cars. What we're here for is to provide and exchange information about these cars. 

So why T-Birds and Cougars, anyway?

Again, it's simple. I like these cars. I fell in love when I bought my first one, an '85 V6 T-Bird. Since then I've owned 4 others, including the two I own now. Also since then, I've found that Mustang info is easy to come by, but T-Bird/Cougar stuff is relatively scarce, so I put this page together in order to spread (as well as gather) information to others that prefer these cars over the more common Mustang. So far it's been a success, thanks to our many visitors, most notably Eric Dess of CoolCats and Jeff Robb, who has sent me plenty of info that he's gathered.

And what makes them so special?

Well, let's have a quick history lesson. Although most people think that the '84 Tempo/Topaz twins were responsible for the rounded cars that Ford made popular, it was the '83 T-Bird and Cougar that set the styling standard for the eighties, coming out a year before the round-edge Tempaz twins.


1984 ThunderBird Turbocoupe
These cars were quite a departure from the boxy 'Birds they replaced, both in looks and in attitude. They were available with 3 engines: the 3.8V6, the 5.0V8, and the hot 2.3 Turbo 4cyl. These cars were the sportiest T-Birds since the '57, and in an era when most companies were trying to be as Japanese as possible, it was refreshing to have at least one American car that had some style and power (truly a rare item in the early eighties). This fact was made even more clear by the fact that the folks over at GM were still flogging the public with their Kleenex Box-ishly styled Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Olds Cutlass, and Buick Regal. Chrysler saw the light by copying the T-Bird's styling for its LeBaron in '87. Unfortunately, the Lebaron had good styling, but underneath that pretty face was a K-Car chassis.

With that style and power came great handling, too, thanks to the first use of horizontally mounted shocks on the rear that acted with two conventional vertical shocks to reduce axle hop and windup. This feature would later find its way into the SVO Mustang and the later Mustang GTs, as well as other T-Bird/Cougar models (XR7, Sport, LX, etc).


1988 Cougar LS
Mercury would have to wait until '84 before it would receive the Turbo treatment. The formal roofed Cougar's styling was considered controversial by some, and ugly by a few (car magazines of the era hated the roofline) but the public seemed to like it. The Cougar actually sold better than the T-Bird!

In '87, the Cougar got a refreshening similar to its T-Bird sister. Flush glass, aero headlights, and a smoother roofline sporting nicer-shaped quarter windows and a compound-curve backlight were the major body updates, but the major news was the deletion of the 2.3 Turbo-4 option. This left the XR-7, with its 5.0 SEFI V8 and 8.8" rear end as the top performer (no 5-speed was available either). A special 20th anniversary XR-7 also came out in '87, with special wheels (basically Mustang GT wheels painted gold or body-color), a monochromatic paint scheme, and a limited production run of only 5000 cars. This particular model is my personal favorite.


1984 Mark VII LSC
In 1984, Lincoln got into the picture with its '84 Continental Mark VII. This car had unique body styling, combined with some very interesting technology. In addition to being the first North American car to use European-style flush mounted headlights, the suspension made history by using air filled bags instead of conventional coil or leaf springs. This meant that by using a computer-controlled compressor, the spring rate could be constantly changed according to road conditions, allowing for great handling combined with a smooth ride - a combination definitely unheard of in any previous North American luxury car.

Based on the Fox platform, these cars shared a lot of components with such vehicles as the Mustang/Capri, the Fairmont/Zephyr, and the LTD/Marquis. This means that most aftermarket performance parts made for '79-'93 Mustangs will work on the Thunderbirds and Cougars as well. Mark VII owners might have a bit of a problem with suspension bits due to the air suspension, but the engine mods should work.

The advantages these cars have over the Mustangs are several:

If there is a downside to these cars, it's their weight, but that disadvantage can easily be overcome by removing some insulation & other useless items (such as spare tires, girlfriends, etc).

In '85, the T-Bird/Cougar got an entirely new interior, complete with a digital speedo for the base cars, and an available full digital cluster or sport analogue cluster. About the only significant change for '86 was the addition of a third brake light in the back window, but in '87 the T-Bird's sheetmetal got a significant update to carry it over until the all-new MN-12 T-Bird and Cougar debuted in '89. The updates included flush glass, round taillights, flush headlights, and a new, more modern grille. TurboBirds also got 16" wheels, a smooth nose (no grille), blacked out trim, and an intercooler. The intercooler boosted performance significantly (in 5-speed cars it boosted horsepower from 155 to 190!), and it also gave the car that cool twin scoop hood.

 So there you have it. That's why I like T-Birds, Cougars, and Mark VII's. If you like 'em too, feel free to look around. 

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to Sam's Fox ThunderCats since July 2000